LPCDreissues: Looking forward to the past

Ray Bryant has played with an impressive number of the most important jazz artists, including Charlie Parker, Lester Young, Sonny Rollins, Miles Davis, Jo Jones, and Coleman Hawkins. For 30 years, his own trios have been extremely popular. But Bryant's cult status, not only among jazz listeners but with classical and rock musicians and fans around the world, has been achieved through his solo piano recordings. This album of performances at the 1977 Montreux Jazz Festival is one of his best, incorporating all of the elements that make Bryant's work so endearing--bebop, blues, gospel, boogie, and stride, melded into a timeless style of power, passion, humor, and irresistible swing.Take the "A" Train, Georgia on My Mind, Jungle Town Jubilee, If I Could Just Make It to Heaven, Django, Blues #6, Satin Doll, Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child, St. Louis Blues, Things Ain't What They Used to Be